Voices For Life

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. We cover issues from conception until natural death, as well as all family life issues.

Friday, January 27, 2017

U.S. House votes to permanently ban taxpayer funding of abortion

U.S. House votes to permanently ban taxpayer funding of abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 24, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 238 to 183 today to permanently ban taxpayer funding of abortion.

The No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act (HR 7), introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, makes permanent the so-called Hyde Amendment permanent. Thus far the amendment, which prohibits federal money from being used to fund abortions through Medicaid, has been subject to annual renewal.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates the Hyde Amendment has saved over two million lives since it was enacted in 1976.

A January 2017 Marist poll revealed 61% of Americans don’t support using tax dollars to pay for abortions.

The No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act also removes abortion funding from Obamacare while legislators consider replacements for Obama's signature healthcare law.

Some Democrats took to the House floor to say that Obamacare doesn't fund abortions, which Smith rebutted with GAO statistics. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-MI, complained that HR 7 is "about going well beyond" the Hyde Amendment. Others defended Planned Parenthood and touted that they had participated in the Women's March on Washington in their speeches against the bill.

Pro-life members of Congress pointed out that the legislation simply makes permanent what is already renewed annually by Congress, and that it allows for transparency on abortion coverage in healthcare plans.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY, blasted those using the "women's march" as a way to imply they speak for all women, noting that pro-life feminists were excluded from it. She plugged Friday's 44th annual March for Life. Rep. Diane Black, R-TN, also noted the hypocrisy of the women's march excluding pro-life women.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-NC, called HR7 a "common-sense measure." Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-MO, said she was "heartsick" to hear her colleagues celebrating the recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade and called them out for labeling abortion "care" instead of "taking life."